Don't you remember how you got those scars?
by okiesmokes
Summary: Naruto's just your average teen. Besides the fact that he's quickly becoming YouTube famous, he met his closest thing to a friend online, and he's undeniably convinced his neighbors a psychopathic murderer. Well, maybe he's not so average after all. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Don't you remember how you got those scars?**

**Summary:** Naruto's just your average teenager. Besides the fact that he's quickly becoming YouTube famous, he met his closest thing to a friend online, and he's undeniably convinced his neighbors a psychopathic murderer. Well, maybe he's not so average after all. AU.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Naruto, or anything in this fic besides the plot.  
><strong>Warnings for this chapter:<strong> Very mild language.

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**Chapter 1: This Means War**

Naruto stared quietly at his plate of chicken parmesan, his brows furrowed in anger. Swiping his fork back and forth over the cheese and sauce covered noodles; he allowed the occasional sigh or huff to escape his lips. Of course he was hungry, heck, he was _starving_, but no way in hell was he going to give his father any satisfaction by eating his food. As of thirty minutes ago, he was officially on strike.

Running a hand through his spiky blond hair, he held in a chuckle at the thought of himself standing outside his home holding a picket sign, marching back and forth while chanting some moronic phrase. His father would _have_ to reconsider his decision before such an event ended up on the news. What would the neighbors think? Better yet, their distant but respectable relatives? It seemed like a dumb idea, but if came to that, so be it.

Naruto hoped to the Gods that it wouldn't.

His father, Minato, continued to stare at him in dismay from across the table, the look hadn't left his face since the days earlier events. Since when had his son become such a trouble maker? He sat there deep in thought, wondering where he went wrong as a parent. Rubbing his finger across the edge of his glass, he began to open his mouth, quickly closing it and repeating the process. Finally deciding on how to approach the situation he simply asked, "Is something wrong with the chicken?"

"Phase one." Naruto knew this was coming, so he might as well go ahead and get to the point. His father, unlike him, was one to beat around the bush. He hated confrontation. Not that Naruto disliked that quality about his father. He loved it, actually.

Minato used a strategy he like to call 'the cool down period', in which he'd wait at least twenty minutes before confronting someone about a problem that could potentially cause an argument. He justified his strategy by simply stating that it allowed both parties to calm down and get a hold on their thoughts. In many cases, this allowed Naruto to get away with tons of things, seeing as before the twenty minutes were up, Minato had usually already forgotten all about the problem at hand.

Too bad for Naruto, that didn't happen this time.

The blond wasn't what most people would call a bad kid. He was respectful under most circumstances and usually never got in trouble over anything big. But lately, things were going wrong for the teen left and right. Ever since they moved to this town, Naruto seemed to be getting in more and more trouble.

"Enlighten me."

"Starvation."

Minato looked up at the ceiling and groaned, his eyes glancing over the rough mountain-like texture. "We both know you can't go without food for more than an hour or so."

Naruto definitely couldn't argue with that, but it didn't mean he was going to give up so easily.

"Was moving here really that bad of a decision?" His father aimed the question more at himself than his son. "You were never such a problem before we moved here."

Those few words hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. "I never realized I was such a burden to you…" he whispered just low enough that his father couldn't understand what he said.

"What's that?"

It took everything Naruto had to not jump up and start shouting like a mad man. He knew his father didn't deserve to be yelled at, but neither did he. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You call completely trashing an innocent mans lawn not doing anything wrong?" Minato forced himself to keep his voice at a reasonable volume. The last thing he needed was a reason for Naruto to go wild. "I just don't understand it Naruto. He said he saw you running away from the scene as soon as he pulled back the curtains. You're not exactly hard to recognize." The older of the two blonds waved a hand towards the others attire. The orange leather jacket with two black stripes he was sporting could potentially blind the average person. On most people the unusual colored jacket would look horrendous, but the orange color did wonders paired against his sun kissed skin and bright blond hair. Not to mention his stunning oceanic eyes.

"He's out to get me, dad! I don't understand it so I don't expect you to either, but you have to believe me. I was here all day, in my room, on the computer. Just trust me on this, I didn't do it."

"You said that last time." Minato exclaimed, reminiscing over the last two times he'd received a phone call about Naruto. "Trust me, I want to believe you. His word just outweighs yours. The man has no reason to hold a grudge on you."

Naruto sighed in defeat. He wanted to argue that his word should always outweigh that of a strangers, seeing as he was his son, but knew that once Minato made up his mind, arguing was pointless. "Fine, whatever. I know I'm innocent. So what's the punishment this time?" The blond was pretty smart when it came to psychology. He knew if he admitted defeat and asked for his punishment, he'd either get none or a small one, instead of if he'd begged not to receive one at all.

Minato knew of this technique all too well, but decided to play along anyway. He hated punishing his son, so any way to lessen the tension was welcomed. "There isn't one this time. But I'd appreciate it if you took some time to think about your actions from now on and how they affect others, not just yourself."

"Fine."

Naruto stood up and placed his plate inside the refrigerator before pushing his chair in and walking to his room. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to his computer and pressed the power button, willing it to go faster by drumming his fingers across his cheek. Deciding it was too bright inside his room he closed all the blinds and sat back down while the computer finished starting up.

Once the monitor showed the appropriate desktop images, the blond turned on his webcam and fiddled with the settings in order to get a better resolution. After everything on the screen fit his standards he walked over to his bed and picked up his guitar. After making sure it was tuned he began to lightly strum over the far too familiar strings. Letting the soft music linger in the air, he mentally searched his brain for an appropriate song.

Inwardly smiling at his decision he cleared his throat and began to sing.

_My ship went down in a sea of sound  
>When I woke up alone, I had everything<br>A handful of moments, I wished I could change  
>And a tongue like a nightmare that cut like a blade<em>

_In a city of fools, I was careful and cool  
>But they tore me apart like a hurricane<br>A handful of moments, I wished I could change  
>But I was carried away<em>

The room filled with the heavenly sound of his voice mixed with the soft strumming of his guitar. Not even the cheerful melodies of a songbird could compare to the music he was now creating. The peacefulness of the whole act warmed Naruto. He loved the feelings he got when he picked up his guitar and sang for no one unparticular. Once he began singing, nothing else in the world mattered. No one could get him down, he was invincible.

If only life were always like this; so simple, calm, and peaceful.

_Give me therapy, I'm a walking travesty  
>But I'm smiling at everything<br>Therapy, you were never a friend to me  
>And you can keep all your misery<em>

As he continued to sing he began to think about his old town, school, and friends. He never really cared about where he lived until he realized how strong the bonds he'd made with the people in his old town had become. Of course, he chatted via webcam with them occasionally, but it was the midst of summer, no one had enough spare time to just stop and have an innocent conversation with an old friend and texting was out of the question, seeing as he didn't own a phone.

After wrapping up the song, he walked back over to his computer to stop the recording. Once he was done editing and saving the video he began typing the address to his favorite video streaming website and signed in, quickly uploading his video for everyone to see.

As soon as he was done filling out the appropriate information about said video, the blond decided to check his profile for any comments or messages. He wasn't like most teens that uploaded music covers in hopes to get attention and possibly become famous, instead, he did it for himself. Music made him happy and he wanted to share that happiness with everyone else.

Every once in awhile, though, he'd get a comment from someone telling him he had a wonderful voice. He'd even received a few saying he sucked and should stop making videos altogether, but it never fazed him in a negative way. Just the fact that they cared enough to take the time and reply to his video made him smirk to himself.

As soon as the web page finished loading Narutos eyes widened in shock. One of his videos was being put on the sites home page, under featured videos. It seemed a lot of people had watched his video, commenting and giving it high ratings. A smile worked its way onto his lips as he realized other people had actually liked something _he_ did.

'Don't let it get to your head Naruto. You have more important things to worry about.'

With that, his mood changed completely. He began to remember why he was in his room and on the website in the first place instead of downstairs, enjoying dinner. The reason being: his lame excuse of a neighbor.

Oh how he was beginning to hate that man.

Naruto still couldn't seem to fathom what was going on in his neighbors head. Ever since he moved here, the man had been blaming him for all sorts of impractical things. He'd never even met the guy, what reason would he have to terrorize him like this? Maybe the man did this to all the new residents, in order to set boundaries from the get go.

'He's insane, simple as that.'

The blond absentmindedly rubbed his fingers over the keyboard, deep in thought. "Ugh, why does everything have to be so frustrating?"

Deciding to take his mind off of things, he clicked on the comments button and began reading in hopes that the simple praises would help cheer him up. Most of the comments said something along the lines of "Wow you're cute", "Upload more videos soon", or "Can I request a song please?" Naruto frowned at all the generic comments. Couldn't they see that the things they were saying had already been said at least twenty times before? Any other time Naruto wouldn't have cared if they all said the same thing, he was just in a terrible mood, and all the lame comments were adding flame to the fire.

Just as the blond was about to give up and log off, a comment near the bottom of the page caught his eye. It was short and simple, but different from all the others.

**How did you get those scars?**

Naruto sat there and thought about whether he should answer the question or not. Most people wouldn't think anything of such a simple observation and easily answer said question, but not him. He quickly clicked on the person's username in order to get a little insight on who was asking such a personal question. It's not that Naruto cared about what the person looked like, but someone who watches a music video and ask something potentially personal like that instead of saying something about the singing, intrigued him. Yes, the comment was about his looks, but it wasn't someone calling him cute or anything like most of the other users did.

As the page popped up he quickly glanced at the person's name before looking at his picture. The boy, Sasuke, looked normal enough. He was a little paler than most people, but his complexion mixed well with his dark colored hair, even if it was an odd cut. He also looked a tad older than Naruto, only a year or two. Scrolling down he realized Sasuke hadn't filled out any information about himself or uploaded any videos. All he had were a few videos added to his favorites and one sent comment; the comment he sent to Naruto.

**How did you get those scars?** Naruto read the question again, finally deciding to give the boy an answer. After pulling up a new message he began to type: **Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure. My dad told me that when I was real little, we were in a car accident, and that's how I got them. But he always acts kind of weird when I bring it up. I was too young, so I don't remember anything myself. It's odd, I know. **

Naruto waited for a bit after sending the message for a reply, since the boys profile said he was online also. Sure enough, it came in a matter of minutes. **You could have just said that you didn't know.**

The blond allowed his face to scrunch up before typing up a quick reply: **Yes, but then I would have looked like an idiot.**

Deciding he'd already wasted enough time on the internet, he logged off and headed downstairs to finish his meal in peace.

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"This is really good!" Naruto was on his forth plate of chicken parmesan, almost ready to go get another, when his father walked in. "Man did I miss out earlier today."

"I can tell." Minato pointed at his sons face, with a smirk.

"Huh?" Naruto stood up and picked up the toaster in order to see his reflection. His cheeks tinted in embarrassment, matching the color of the sauce covering his nose. Wiping it off, he turned towards his dad, noticing the package tucked under his arm. "What's that?"

"Oh, this? That's actually what I was coming to find you about. It's our lovely neighbor's mail; seems as though the mail man made a mistake once again. I'd appreciate it if you took it to him." He smirked at his son and laid the package on top of the kitchen table.

"Oh come on, dad. If I step foot at his doorstep he'll go mental for sure." The blond looked towards his dad in despair and flailed his arms in the air for emphases. "Heck, he already_ is_ mental!"

"You shouldn't talk about people you've never met, personally, that way Naruto. With that in mind, maybe if you both officially meet and at least try to get to know each other a little better, all of this craziness will end."

"Of course you take the reasonable approach to this. But what makes you think he wants to get to know me? You've never even seen him before either! I know we haven't been here that long but don't you think it's sort of weird that we never see him outside? He could be running a cult or some kinky shit like that inside his basement, for all we know. How did he get our number anyway?"

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Minato had been taking advantage of his sons rant by slowly backing away from the kitchen, making his way closer and closer to the doorway, in order to make an easier escape. If he continued to banter back and forth like this, Naruto would end up winning and he'd have to go take the mail to its rightful owner himself. He wouldn't admit it to Naruto, but he did secretly agree that the guy was sort of creepy. And on top of that, he wasn't sure of how the man got their phone number either. He knew there was probably a very logical explanation to how he acquired it, but admitting that he didn't know would just rile Naruto up even more. "Just do it, alright? And remember that I didn't punish you earlier. I could always take that back, you know. Besides, he's probably just lonely or something, give the man a chance, and show him your signature charm like you do everyone else. Im sure you two can work things out. He can't be that unreasonable so there's no reason for you to be either."

"But dad!"

"No buts! Now go before I decide to make you invite him over for dinner tomorrow, also." With that he stalked out of the room, leaving the younger blond to stare at the spot he was just standing in, in anger.

Naruto was officially the world's unluckiest teenager.

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**A/N:** Help please! I had somewhat of a problem trying to word this sentence: _Better yet, their distant but respectable relatives? _It's still considered a fragment and it's driving me crazy. I'm just not sure how to word it. Also, short sentences like: _Fine, whatever. _(When a characters speaking). Do you just leave them like that since it's in conversation form?Any help/advice with this sort of grammar problem would be greatly appreciated for now and future reference. Thanks!  
>On another note, this isn't going to be a song fic. This will be somewhat of a mystery type thing.<p>

-Sorry if the formatting is strange, I'm uploading from my phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, YouTube, or anything else.  
><strong>Warnings for this chapter:<strong> Mild language.  
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Naruto stood in front of the grocery store, absentmindedly shoving his hands into his pockets as the automatic doors opened, allowing him access to the inside. Scanning the area as he walked in, he sighed in relief, noticing it was pretty much empty. He'd put off going to said store until now, complaining that it would have been too crowded if he went any earlier. Minato disagreed, saying it would be crowded all day, but like always, gave in and allowed him to go whenever he wanted, as long as it was before dinner time. '_Ha! Take that Mr. know-it-all.' _If he owned a phone, he would have taken a picture as proof and sent it to his father, just so he could gloat on how he was right.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Groaning to add emphasis, he grabbed a cart and headed towards the first thing on his list.

The blond teen thoroughly enjoyed eating food, which was an obvious fact; he just didn't particularly like shopping for it. Grocery stores were too cold for his liking. Who in their right mind wanted to freeze their ass off while searching for the best deals on steaks and ground beef? '

'_This is why there's so many vegans and such in the world. Oh yeah, I've got you all figured out._' He thought to himself.

Not to mention, how rude people could be, pushing their carts in your way and acting as if everyone around them should part like the red sea. The absolute worst thing about grocery shopping, though, was the walk. After going back and forth numerous times, searching for all the needed items, one would simply _have_ to take a break and eat something, causing them to have to go right back in and start the process yet again.

If it was up to Naruto, he'd go straight to the soup isle, fill his cart with instant ramen, and be done with it. Too bad for him, his father wouldn't allow it. '_Unhealthy my butt. Everything's unhealthy.' _

After grabbing the last thing on his list he quickly made a bee line to the first register in sight and paid the lady in exact change, before walking outside.

Scanning the parking lot for his car, he noticed an old man sitting on a worn out bench a few feet away from him. The man, noticing him also, quickly jumped to his feet and yelled, "Shoe shine, shoe shine!"

"Eh?" Naruto glanced down at his feet then back up at the stranger. "I'm wearing sneakers you crazy old man."

"Don't talk to your elders that way, brat." The man put both his hands on either hip before giving him a look of repugnance.

The blond, pulling his cart behind him, walked over to the tall man, taking in his features. He had long gray hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks; his face was covered in dirt and what seemed to be black shoe polish, and sported raggedy old clothes he'd most likely received ages ago. But none of that even began to compare to the smell.

Naruto crinkled his nose in disgust, making a mental note to never again eat fish or any other seafood product.

He contemplated for awhile, thinking up all sorts of possible lives the man before him could have led. How could someone's life become this bad? How many wrong decisions did one have to make before ending up in such a state? Maybe a strike of bad luck got the best of the old man, instead of a bad decision.

The teen quickly grew an interest to the man. Something about him drew Naruto in. He wanted to know about his life, about the things he'd been through leading him to where he is now.

"Well? Are you gonna give me some cash or not?" The man's face formed a small scowl as he looked down at the blond.

Naruto sighed and took a seat on the bench. He didn't have any money and even if he did, he knew better than to just give it away. His father always warned him to never give a stranger money, no matter how trustworthy they may seem. They would most likely spend it on alcohol rather than actual necessities. Instead, he was told to go out and by them a hot meal.

Seeing as he didn't have any money to begin with, he came up with an idea that would please both the old man and his father. Besides, he couldn't, in good conscience, leave without helping the stranger.

"You come here every day?"

The man nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then!" He smiled and began to walk off, not forgetting to grab his cart. Looking over his shoulder he added, "I have a plan."  
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Naruto sat at his father's desk letting his eyes wander back and forth; following Minato's pacing from one side of the room to the other. Knowing his father only ever did this when he was under a lot of stress, he slumped over the desk allowing his chin to rest on his palm, waiting patiently for the other to speak. He knew when his father was stressed, it was best to keep quiet and let the other man vent when he was ready.

Minato never said so, but Naruto knew that he appreciated having someone take the time and listen to him when he had a problem. Besides, it was the least he could do, seeing as Minato always offered to listen to Naruto rant on and on when something was going on in his life, as well. Even though, even if his father didn't offer, the younger blond would force him to listen anyway.

The blue eyed boy was becoming bored and it didn't look as if his father was going to settle down anytime soon. He quietly reached over and grabbed the mouse, moving it back and forth so the screensaver would disappear. He hadn't read Sasuke's reply yet, and he couldn't deny it, he was a little curious as to what he said back.

Bringing up his home page, he went to his inbox and skimmed past all the spam before finding what he was looking for.

**Too late.**

Naruto looked at the message and shrugged, not really caring that this Sasuke kid had basically called him an idiot. Most people thought of him as annoying or stupid when they first met him, so it never fazed him anymore. Besides, he had to admit that he was a little annoying when first meeting someone; he had to break them down into being his friend somehow, and that was the only way he knew how.

**Whatever, bastard. **

If this guy wasn't gonna play nice, neither was he.

"Who's your next victim?" Naruto let out a loud yelp at his father's presence. He failed to notice when the man had walked behind him and began peering over his shoulder.

"What?"

"If I remember correctly, the last time you went around calling someone names, was when Shikamaru transferred to your old school."

The blond had almost forgotten all about the incident with Shikamaru. Not that it could really be labeled an incident rather than Naruto just being an idiot.

_In tenth grade, Shikamaru transferred to Naruto's school, quickly becoming known as the schools genius. Now, Naruto didn't care if the guy was smarter than he was, seeing as 95% of the student population always scored higher than he did on any and all tests. The blond just refused to believe that said boy could possibly make such good grades on everything, when all he ever did was sleep! _

_Every time the teachers would call out their scores, Naruto would quickly turn around, mouthing a simple 'bastard' towards the boys direction. What made him even more upset though, the boy never seemed to care in the slightest. He'd never fight back, try to prove Naruto wrong, or even give him a glare. He would just lean back in his desk and say something along the lines of 'troublesome' or 'what a drag', before taking a nap. _

_Naruto rattled his brain over and over, looking for any possible explanation as to how the guy could possibly make the grades he did. Until one day, he figured it out. Well, so he thought. To Naruto, it was the one and only plausible explanation; the guy was seducing all of his teachers. That had to be it. _

_So, taking matters into his own hands, the blond interrupted the entire class the very next day, and 'warned' his favorite teacher about his students' antics. As he stood atop his desk, pointing at the boy, he yelled "Don't get your hopes up Iruka! He has all the teachers wrapped around his sticky little fingers! Don't let that ponytail freak seduce you to get good grades!" Of course, Naruto was given detention, and eventually found out the truth about Shikamaru. _

Naruto snapped out of memory lane after noticing his father was still waiting for an answer. "It's nothing like that. He started it."

"Of course he did." After turning around and facing the wall, he let out a sigh and finally sat down in front of the desk, opposite Naruto. The younger blond knew this meant his father was finally prepared to vent.

Minato went on about his job for a good thirty minutes, rarely stopping to get his thoughts straight. How he managed to talk so long while taking so little breathes, Naruto didn't know, but he made sure to pay full attention the entire time. His father was the _only_ person who he would ever do this for. The older blond went on about how he disagreed with his boss's ways and may be forced to quit his job if the man didn't change anytime soon. He hated when people took it upon themselves to judge others just because they had power. He wanted nothing to do with it.

As Minato's speech started to die down, Naruto refreshed his email, hoping to have received Sasukes retort. He was a little disappointed when noticing all the raven wrote back was a simple 'Hn'.

Contemplating for a minute on whether or not to bother on writing back, he thought to hell with it, and began writing: **Anyway. Yesterday, my dad wanted me to deliver some mail to my neighbor right. Well, at first I was like, shit, I don't wanna talk to that freak. Cause like I said, he's a **_**freak**_**! Seriously, I'm convinced the guys either a serial killer or a child molester. Either way, that's no good for me. Cause I mean, I'm good looking and I have a great personality. That alone is just asking to be raped and held prisoner in someone's basement for months before I run out of rodents to eat and eventually starve to death! But I had to cause I said I would. BUT on the way there I thought, hey, I could just leave it on his doorstep, ring the doorbell, and run like hell. Which I'm pretty good at by the way. I've had my experience with pranks and such.  
>Naruto: 1 Creepy neighbor: 0 <strong>

Naruto wasn't sure why he insisted on trying to keep a conversation going with Sasuke. For now, he decided to blame it on the fact that he no longer had real friends to talk to. Besides, he obviously couldn't talk to his dad about this, of all things.

Speaking of his father, the man must have slipped out of the room after Naruto began typing his message.

Hearing the familiar alert of a new message, he looked up at the screen and rolled his eyes. **Tch, moron. I highly doubt your neighbor is any of those things and even if he was, why would he waste his time victimizing you? You're not that good looking. Sasuke: 1 Naruto: 0**

**Oh so you admit that I am somewhat good looking then. And he's already started victimizing me since the day I moved here, thankyouverymuch. Sasuke: 1 Naruto: 1 **

**I'm asexual. Idiot.**

**You're no fun, is what you are. :[**

Not caring what the other had to say back, Naruto shut down the computer and sprinted up the stairs.

He had a lot to do in order to get ready for the following morning and he'd already wasted enough time on Sasuke and his father.

Flipping open his laptop, he sat and pondered on how exactly to go about his plan. He'd already told the old man from the grocery store that he had a plan, problem was; he didn't exactly think the whole thing through. He knew he wanted to do something to attract people's attention, but what that would be, he wasn't sure.

He sat there deep in thought for a good ten minutes before remembering all the spam in his inbox. At the time it seemed like spam, but now, it was possibly the best thing for him. Pulling up his email, he skimmed through all the mail, allowing his smile to grow wider with every message. They were all from YouTube; subscription alerts, comments, messages, the whole shebang.

Pulling up the website, he instantly began uploading a new video via webcam.

"Hi guys. Not a music video, but yeah… Um. I'm gonna be at my local Reid's tomorrow, doing sort of a small concert type thing for a friend of mine. If you've been there before then you've probably seen him, he shines shoes for a few bucks. If you didn't know, shiny shoes are all the rage these days. So why not come, enjoy some music, and give the guy some business?" Giving the screen his biggest grin he added "For the people lucky enough to live in the same area as me, go to my profile for all the info. Don't let me down!"

After finishing up the video he closed his laptop and began rummaging through his closet, searching for his equipment. He still wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go all out and take amps, a stage, and all the works, or keep it simple by taking his acoustic guitar. For all he knew, no one would show up. Then he would look like a complete idiot if he set up all that equipment.

Deciding to play it safe, the blond picked both options. If it didn't look like anyone was going to show up, then he'd just use his acoustic guitar to attract random people; leaving his other items in the car. If people were waiting for him when he got there, then he'd set everything up and put on a real show. Either way, he'd make it work to his liking.

Happy with his decision, Naruto crawled into bed for some much needed sleep.  
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BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Naruto covered his head with a pillow in order to block out the shrill sounds emanating from his alarm clock. Oh how he hated mornings.

After finishing his morning routine, he loaded up his car and headed towards the store. He couldn't lie, he was a little nervous. Yeah, he'd sang in front of people before, but they were people he knew. Or even better, they were behind a computer screen.

Naruto didn't get nervous very often. He didn't care enough to. But in a weird way, this was different. Albeit, once he pulled into the store's parking lot, he was no longer nervous. Instead, he was completely pumped.

Grabbing his acoustic guitar from the back seat, he headed towards the old man, offering him a goofy grin.

"Didn't think you'd show. What's this plan of yours anyway?" The old man lifted an eyebrow and shifted, allowing Naruto space to sit down.

"What's it look like, old man?"

"Stop calling me that, brat. It's Jiraiya. So you play, huh. You better be good."

"So don't call me that either. Naruto's the name, remember it." He shifted a little, trying to find a good position before he started playing. "And I'm better than just good, believe it."

Just like that, he'd forgotten about all his previous emotions and fears. It no longer mattered to him if no one cared enough to show up, or if any passerby criticized him. He was too set on showing the man beside him that he was good at what he did. He'd prove it to him before the day was over, one way or another.

Humming while he got into the rhythm of the first song, he started singing.

_Here's another pity and there's another chance  
>Try to learn a lesson but you can't<br>We can burn a city in futures and in past  
>Without a change, our lives will never last<br>We're going fast_

Naruto opened his eyes, noticing a crowd forming around him. It was small, but it was a start.

_You can sit beside me when the world comes down  
>If it doesn't matter then just turn around<br>We don't need our bags and we can just leave town  
>You can sit beside me when the world comes down<em>

As the crowd continued to grow, Naruto couldn't help but smile. It felt good knowing people enjoyed his music. He just hoped that his plan was serving its original purpose, and not just gaining himself new fans. Turning to his left, he caught a glimpse of Jiraiya shining a man's shoes. Though, he seemed to be having a difficult time, since the man kept tapping his foot along to the music. It took everything Naruto had to stifle a laugh.

_What can we do better, when will we know how?  
>A man says from a sidewalk to a crowd<br>If we can change the weather, if you want it to yourself  
>If you cannot guess we all need help, I need help<em>

The sun began to rise, its rays illuminating the whole scene like a clip from a movie. A few people in the crowd began clapping their hands to the beat of the song while others hummed along. Naruto could easily decipher his YouTube fans from random shoppers. It wasn't hard to do, really. They all had a look in their eyes, like they'd been excited for the so called event since they heard about it, while the other just silently enjoyed the impromptu concert.

_We say  
>We do<br>The lies  
>The truth<br>All I need is next to me_

As he finished up the song, he looked around, getting a good look of the crowd for the first time. He never imagined having this many people show up. Glancing over at Jiraiya, the man seemed overjoyed with all the potential customers. Some of the store employee's had even come outside to get a good view of all the commotion.

Rubbing his hand through his hair, Naruto finally spoke up. "Heh. So… Who wants to help me get the rest of my props from my car?"  
>-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-=0=-0=<p>

**Authors note: **I had the hardest time writing this chapter and I'm very unhappy with the way it turned out. Oh well, I'll redeem myself in the next chapter. Anyways, the next chapter will focus more on Narutos neighbor and give some of Jiraiya's past. And of course, Sasuke. Things should start to pick up very soon, making up for the lack of action in this chapter. Also, there probably won't be a song in the next chapter, either.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, YouTube, or anything else.  
><strong>Warnings for this chapter:<strong> Mild language.  
><strong>Important: <strong>Still looking for a beta! Also, I replied to all the reviews earlier this week, but I'm not sure if they sent. I kept getting errors. So just in case, thanks to everyone who has reviewed and given advice.

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><p>For the first time in weeks, Naruto woke peacefully from one of the deepest slumbers he'd ever had. He smirked after noticing he'd slept through the alarm he set the night before; two hours past, to be exact. His father didn't particularly like it when he slept in, but as long as he didn't make it a habit, he would probably look over it this one time. He probably appreciated the silence anyway. But just in case, Naruto didn't want to push his luck.<p>

Pulling back the curtains, he closed his eyes and soaked in the sun's rays as if taking in all the energy they offered. Today was going to be a good day; at least, he hoped more than anything that it would be. He was still pumped up from the night before, of course; causing him to be even more positive and cheery than usual.

The blond began to recall the events from the day before, trying to remember every little detail so he could mentally imprint it into his brain. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd get such a positive response. The crowd was so much bigger than what he expected. When he first came up with the idea, he imagined ten to fifteen people showing up; nowhere near the amount that actually did. A lot of them happened to be there by sheer coincidence, but still, they _enjoyed_ it. They liked him.

Finally deciding to crawl out of bed, Naruto walked over to his closet and snatched a few random items, before practically skipping towards the shower. He didn't bother going downstairs to let his dad know he was alive; figuring the sound of the water would equally inform him of that.

Once out of the shower and fully dressed, he ran downstairs hoping to find a hardy meal waiting for him in the kitchen. Before he had a chance to check the fridge, the doorbell rang. Naruto groaned and yelled for his dad to go answer the door, but no one responded. "Dad! The door!" He repeated, but no answer. He huffed, figuring his father had already left for work and started walking towards the front of the house.

The visitor had long given up ringing the doorbell and was now knocking furiously. "I'm coming damn it. Nothing can be that important this early." The blond threw open the door only to be knocked on the top of the head by the unwelcomed visitor. "What the- OUCH!" He hissed and grabbed the top of his head.

"Oh shit, sorry man."

Naruto rubbed his head a little longer before getting a good look at the boy; instantly gaping at his appearance. He was an inch or two taller than Naruto and had skin at least three shades darker than his own. He silently wondered if the tan was fake or not; seeing as he, himself, spent a lot of time outside but didn't look near as dark. But this isn't what caused Naruto to falter so instantly; it was the red triangle-like tattoo he sported on each cheek. Who in their right mind got a tattoo on their face? No one did, besides gang members and such.

The blond's eyes widened at the thought. Should he see what the guy before him wanted and take the chance of being shot? Or slam the door and hide in the nearest closet until the coast was clear, and possibly ending up looking like a fool?

Before he had a chance to thoroughly weigh his options, the boy leaned in towards his chest and sniffed him. That's right, _sniffed_ him. He didn't even attempt to be subtle about it either. Naruto just stood there in utter confusion as he inhaled his scent.

The boy soon retreated to his original posture and began to glare, twisting his facial features to add emphasis. "Who are you?"

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Was this guy seriously standing in _his_ doorway, asking _him_ who _he_ was? How bizarre could things get? The guy had already gotten a good whiff and now he was asking questions as if Naruto was the one knocking on his door. The blond wouldn't be surprised if he licked him next.

The brunette began to grow impatient and stepped forward, leaning against the door frame. "Cat got your tongue?" He crossed his arms and grinned. The boy's canines were so long; so sharp. Like fangs of some sort. _'Fangs… Vampires…'_ Naruto inwardly gasped at the thought. _'Oh god. The tattoos, badass leather jacket, freaking fish net; he's a fucking vampire! Oh shit I'm gonna die. I'm dead, it's over!' _

The blond exhaled slowly. _'Play it cool Naruto. Play-it-cool.' _

"I'm Naruto. And you are?" He quickly sent back a glare just as intimidating, in order to hide his previous thoughts.

The brunette laughed, bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Haha yeah, sorry if I came off a little too strong, man. It's just; no one's lived here in so long, I was curious. The name's Kiba."

Okay, so he wasn't a vampire after all… Or a gang member. Well, he was still a bit mental either way. "If you say so. So you live around here?"

"Nope." Kiba shifted his weight and crossed his arms. "My sister lives a few houses down. I stay with her during the summer. I just got here last night and she told me someone bought this house and that she thought one of you were around my age. So I thought I'd check it out. I mean, it gets pretty damn boring around here, quick, yah know?"

Naruto had to agree; if you weren't any good at finding ways to entertain yourself around here, it got awfully boring.

"Made breakfast yet? I'm starving!" The brunette stretched his neck, trying to get a peek inside the house.

"No." He couldn't believe his stomach hadn't started growling at this point. "Actually, I was just about to when you-"Kiba pushed past him with a huge grin on his face. "Sweet! We should fry some bacon."

Naruto stood in the doorway, staring at Kiba's back in awe. This guy was something else. "Make yourself at home." He mumbled before closing the door and following him towards the kitchen.

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><p>Minato walked into the living room, humming to himself as he sat his keys on the coffee table. He was about to go upstairs to see if Naruto had woken up yet, when he heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Curious, he quietly made his way towards said area to get a look at all the commotion.<p>

He couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. His son sat on a stool munching on bacon and laughing while some boy he didn't know was standing in front of the stove attempting to cook. The dark skinned boy furrowed his brows and stuck out his tongue in concentration before picking up a skillet with what looked like an omelet inside. He moved the skillet back and forth a few times to make sure the egg wasn't sticking and then suddenly pulled back at an attempt to flip and catch it. The egg flew up and onto the counter, causing a few spice jars to fall over in the process.

From the looks of it, this wasn't his first failed attempt. Empty eggshells were scattered all over the place along with half cooked omelets.

Naruto burst out in a fit of laughter as the boy began to clean up the mess he'd made. The boy gave him a nonthreatening glare. "I bet you couldn't do any better."

Minato chose this moment to make his presence known. "I bet I can." He walked up to the stove; picking up the last egg left in the carton, and cracking it into the already hot skillet.

"Oh man, I'm sorry about your kitchen." Minato waved a hand at his words and shook his head. "It's no big deal." Turning towards his son he added, "I just didn't expect Naruto to have anyone over today, is all."

Naruto cleared his throat and looked at Kiba. He knew his father wouldn't be mad about him having someone over; even if he didn't really invite him over in the first place. But still, he didn't think he would show up before he'd cleaned the place up a bit. "Neither did I. This is Kiba; he's staying with his sister for the rest of summer. She lives down the road from us."

The older blond smiled. "Nice to meet you, Kiba."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mister Dad." Naruto rolled his eyes and suppressed a laugh as Kiba sat in the stool beside him.

Minato shook his head and turned his attention back towards his cooking. He picked up a few jars and quickly dashed a few spices into the pan along with some left over vegetables and cheese. Once everything was to his liking, he picked up the skillet and flipped the omelet twice, before setting it back down. "No fair, you make it look so easy."

"That's because it is." The blond chuckled while putting the omelet in a plate and sitting it in front of Kiba.

Naruto picked up the last piece of bacon and shoved it into his mouth. "Where have you been? I figured you would be at work today."

"I have the day off. But I had to stop by the post office. I was going to see if you wanted to go anywhere today while I was out, but it didn't look like you were going to join the living any time soon."

Kiba finished up his egg and placed his dish in the sink. "I know what you mean. He was like a zombie when I first showed up." The brunette stuck his head out of the kitchen and added, "So is your room upstairs or…?" Naruto nodded, wiping his hands on his pants. "Well, see yah later Mister Dad. C'mon Naruto."

The blond looked over at his dad as Kiba ran upstairs and mouthed "He's crazy." Only to get a "So are you," In return. Well, he couldn't argue with that.

Naruto walked into his room and sat on the floor beside Kiba; who was flipping through the TV channels.

"Nothing's on. Never is," he sighed and turned towards Naruto. "So how do you like it here so far?" The blond was a bit surprised by how calm the boy beside him was now acting. Maybe his energy was finally starting to fizzle down. "Eh. It's alright. I haven't really made any friends yet, since there's no school and all. But I did meet Gramps a couple days ago. He's pretty cool." He paused for a second, trying to recollect everything. "Oh hey! My neighbor; he's crazy right? He has to be crazy."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"I thought you knew everyone who lived around here?"

"Pretty much, yeah. But which one are you talking about?"

Naruto mentally face-palmed. Of course Kiba wouldn't know who he was talking about. "That one." He answered, pointing to the left. "I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before. But somehow, he has our number and he's always calling my dad and blaming me for doing all kinds of shit."

The brunette walked over to the window and peeked out, trying to get a look at the house next door. "I've never really thought about it before, but I've never seen him either. Freaky."

"No kidding. I can't do anything without him setting me up to look bad. My dad's getting aggravated with it all… Wants me to go over and talk to the guy."

Kiba appeared, wide eyed, at Naruto's side in one brisk movement. "No way man!" He waved his arms in the air and shook his head. Naruto tried his best to hold back a chuckle at the sight. "What if he's some kind of mutant like in the movies? Or a crazed maniac waiting for us to slip up! I mean, I come here _every _summer and I've never seen him before!"

The blond's eyes immediately widened as he stared at Kiba; mouth agape. "That's what I said! Well, sort of." Kiba stood up and started pacing back and forth. Every once in a while he would pause, glance towards the window, and start pacing once again. Naruto watched in silence, wondering what could possibly be going through his new friends mind. Bringing his hand up to his chin, the brunette finally spoke, "I've got nothin'."

Naruto leaned back against the wall and rolled his eyes. "You're a lot of help." The dark skinned boy glared before looking at his phone. "Hana wants me back home. I'll think of something… We'll figure out what that freaks up too!" He gave a toothy grin and ran out of the room, not giving Naruto any time to respond.

The blond sprawled out on the floor; not having enough energy to get up. He was happy he'd finally met someone around his age to talk to. Even if the guy was weird. Suddenly he remembered Sasuke and smirked to himself. Dragging his laptop across the floor towards him, he leaned on his elbows for support and went in search for the boys reply.

The human interaction of the day had given him a much needed boost. He decided Sasuke was going to become his friend, whether he wanted to or not. He was a little put off when he noticed there were three messages from said boy instead of one. Lifting an eyebrow he clicked the first one. **No. I'm just honest.**

'_Yeah yeah.' _He quickly opened the last two, hoping for a longer response. **Hey, moron? ** The blond scrunched up his face at the name. **Hn. Nevermind. **What could he have wanted? He was instantly curious and began typing. Maybe making him his friend wouldn't be as hard as he thought. Yeah, the guy gave him insulting nicknames. But it was a start. And besides, Naruto did the same thing to him.

**So you missed me, huh? **

Short, sweet, and to the point. Well, not really to the point. But it was a start.

Naruto was a bit surprised at how fast the raven replied. Maybe something really was wrong. **Hardly. My parents have people over and I'd rather not get involved. So I have nothing better to do. **Figures. The guy had an answer for everything.

The blond scratched his head, trying to think of something appropriate to say. He needed something to get Sasuke interested in, so he would hopefully say more than five words at a time.

_Bing._

Naruto smirked as he read the message. **Any other time you talk too damn much. **The guy really was bored. This was gonna be way too easy.

**Fine then, I'll entertain you. Get on webcam.**

After reading over the message, he couldn't help but laugh at the way it sounded. For the first time in his life, he hadn't intended it to sound that way at all. He just hoped Sasuke didn't have a mind like his. **Asexual. We went over this, idiot. **Of course he thought of it that way too. The blond just couldn't get a break to save his life.

**I didn't mean it like that, I swear. Just get on, I wanna talk. It's a lot easier than this, yah know? **There, now that everything was cleared up, there was no way he would say no. The guy wanted something to do, right?

**Hn.**

'_I'll take that as a yes.' _The blond quickly closed his email window before inviting Sasuke to a webcam session. He drummed his fingers on the floor as he waited for the brunette to accept. "What's taking so long?" He groaned and sat up, looking towards his door. A handful of Oreos sounded really good right about now. He was about to get up and run to the kitchen when he spotted movement on his laptop. "Finally!" He closed the door and lay back down in front of the laptop, resting his face in his hands.

The blond stared at the boy on the other end of the screen, waiting for a reply. He was a lot paler than he remembered, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Though, it did seem to cause a strange glow to cast off onto the screen. "What took you so long, anyway?" He asked, still taking in the boy's appearance.

Sasuke stared, expressionless, at the screen. The blond silently wondered why he wasn't responding, but decided to keep quiet and see what would happen. Eventually, Sasuke leaned in towards the screen and began squinting. Naruto looked down at his shirt thinking maybe he had a stain or egg chunk from earlier. Nope, that wasn't it. He looked back up at the screen as Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned over the camera. What the hell?

He could no longer see anything except the logo on Sasukes shirt.

"Sasuke?" No response.

Naruto furrowed his brows and did the only thing he could think of to get the boy to respond; be annoying as hell. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sassssssssukeeee!" He closed his eyes, practically singing the boys name. "Sasusasusasusasusasu!"

"Your voice is even more annoying than I imagined."

Naruto's eyes shot open at the sound. His voice was rather sexy; but he'd never admit that to this bastard. "Doesn't give you good reason to ignore me."

"Hn." The raven sat back down; adjusting in his seat. He fiddled with a few things near the computer that Naruto couldn't see and then finally looked back up. "The sound wasn't working."

"Oh." The blue eyed boy rummaged his brain for something to talk about; anything to talk about. Usually he would just say the first thing that popped in his head, and eventually it would turn into a full blown conversation or debate. Unfortunately for him; no thoughts came. He looked around his room, hoping to find some sort of inspiration. Yet again, nothing came to mind. '_Think Naruto, think_.'

"And don't call me Sasu."

Naruto smiled deviously. "Oh, I won't." Oh yes he would. "Why are you so pale?" He didn't mean it to sound rude but he was genuinely curious. Did the guy never step foot outside? Or was he just sickly? Either way, he looked damn good. So he was pretty sure it wasn't the last of the two.

"I'd rather not lie in a tanning bed day after day; increasing my chances of getting skin cancer, like I'm guessing you do."

Oh this bastard was gonna get it… Just not right now. "You're probably a hermit. Like my crazy old neighbor."

"You're still going on about that."

"Yep."

"That wasn't a question."

The blond narrowed his eyes but blew the comment off. "Whatever. It's an important matter okay."

Sasuke smirked and began messing around with random items on his desk once again. "In your mind, maybe."

Naruto tilted his head as if it would help him to see what the brunette was up to. "What are you doing?"

"Work." He didn't even look up as he spoke.

Naruto grunted and rolled his eyes. "Alright mister talkative."

Setting the items down, Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "So say something that'll make me think."

The blond's lips formed a straight line as he began to think. This would be the perfect moment for his social skills to finally kick in. "Don't hurt yourself." Naruto blew the comment off and kept thinking. "Oh oh, I know." He grinned and continued. "Serious question; I wanna know why they call a unicorn a unicorn but they don't call a cow a bicorn?"

Sasuke frowned and shook his head before the screen went completely black.

**-Session ended-**

Naruto stared at the screen, mouth agape, as he realized what just happened. The bastard had just left him! He had no good reason to either. It was a legit question!

The blond immediately went back to Sasukes page and sent an email. **Get back on! **How dare Sasuke leave him like that. He wanted him to say something to make him think, so he did. That was no reason to be so rude. Who did the guy think he was, anyway?

**You're an idiot.**

**It was a valid question. You just don't know the answer. **Naruto smiled when he received an invitation a few seconds later. As soon as he clicked accept and saw Sasuke's frowning face, he blurted "Now answer."

"They're two different things."

"Well they both have horns." Naruto quickly concluded.

Sasuke sighed, barely refraining from rolling his eyes at the ignorant boy. "I've never seen a unicorn with utters."

The blond frowned and slumped over, starting to regret asking the question in the first place. This guy just refused to have fun. Suddenly, a thought came to mind and the corners of Naruto's mouth slowly began to form a sly smirk as he looked up at the raven. Whatever it was he was about to say; he was very pleased with. "Well, I don't know about you. But I've never seen a unicorn at all." He continued to smile as Sasuke struggled to keep his composure. "Don't underestimate me, Sasuke." He continued staring at Sasuke, waiting for him to answer. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed it, since the raven seemed to be an expert at keeping his face emotionless, but Naruto could tell he was taken aback by the comment. He didn't frown, furrow his brows, or crinkle his nose. But Naruto could see, deep within his eyes, a hint of surprise. He could tell Sasuke wasn't use to anyone else having the upper hand on him, at any time; even if it was something as stupid as this conversation.

Naruto grinned at him, showing off his pearly whites. "Well, I gotta go, Sasu." He waved a hand in front of the screen and quickly ended the session before Sasuke could scold him about using the nickname.

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><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> As you can see, I don't do very well when it comes to direct conversations (Sasuke & Naruto). I'm still looking for a beta to help out with that. Someone? Anyone? :0

Also, I know I said this chapter would contain more information about the neighbor and Jiraiya, but I didn't expect the thing with Kiba to be that long. My apologies D: Anyway, the next chapter will definitely contain things such as: Naruto asking Minato about his mother/the accident, more information on Jiraiya, and something to do with the neighbor. I'll introduce who the neighbor is in the chapter after the next. But I'm curious; who do you think he is?  
>Lastly, I don't know much about Kiba so I just sort of made him into a strange little teenager. Any suggestions to help with his character are welcomed.<br>Have a great weekend you guys!(:


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.**  
>Authors note: <strong>Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and alerted this story! And a big thanks to my Beta, Kaizen Kitty!  
>Re-uploading... Got two PMs from people saying they couldn't access this chapter because of an error message. Though, I know some people can because I've received reviews. Hope this fixes it because I'm not sure what else to do about it?<p>

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><p>Minato paced back and forth, red with anger. If his life were a cartoon, Naruto was sure he'd see steam escaping his father's nose and ears. But his life wasn't a cartoon and the argument they were now having wasn't going to turn into some silly joke that they could both laugh about in the near future.<p>

For the past hour they'd been arguing endlessly. Well, Minato was arguing. He hadn't given Naruto a chance to speak yet. Not that he wanted to open his mouth at the moment. Seeing his dad _this_ angry unnerved him to no end.

And of course, it all started because of a phone call.

Naruto should have known as soon as the phone rang to grab it before his dad did and save them both from all this misery. No one ever called the house phone except his dad's boss and _him_. Alas, he didn't think anything of the phone call and let Minato answer it. Boy did he regret it now.

"-again. Why Naruto? I've never known you to act this way. What would compel you to destroy the man's package? If I knew it bothered you so much I would have taken it to him myself! I thought we came to an agreement about all of this last time."

Well, here it was; his inevitable death sentence. His father's rant had finally boiled down, meaning he was ready to take action. Naruto knew that no matter what he said, there was no way he was going to get out of this fight unscathed. Not this time.

"I didn't do it." His voice came out barely a whisper as he looked into his father's eyes; pleading for mercy. He'd never seen his dad this mad before; especially not at him. Not even the last time they received a phone call. He figured the added stress from his job was doing a number on his nerves, causing him to be so flustered.

The past few days, Minato kept coming home with bigger workloads than usual. He couldn't help but voice his opinions to his boss about how the man was handling things around the workplace. Usually, he would keep his mouth shut about such things, but his boss was planning on changing the company completely, causing a handful of people to lose their jobs. So every day, as punishment for speaking out, his boss gave him more and more paperwork to take home and fill out.

"I don't care anymore Naruto. Who did it no longer matters to me." Minato struggled to keep his voice at a decent volume.

"But it should matter! No, I didn't do exactly what you told me to. But I didn't do what he said either! I left the package on his doorstep and left. I didn't stomp on his stupid box. It was fine when I left it there!"

"Well I'm sorry, but it doesn't matter. And it's not going to. Because either way, it's childish. Whether you did it or he's making it all up. One of you needs to man up and take some responsibility. As my son, I expect you to be the one to do so." Minato closed his eyes and rubbed his temples; waiting for his son to give him some smart remark. His eyes shot open in surprise when none came.

The younger blond stared at the floor. "You want me to go talk to him, don't you?"

"Yes. Before the day is over, I want you to go over there and talk to him. I'm not asking you to apologize to him. But if he's telling the truth, then you should. This needs to end."

Naruto wanted nothing more than to ignore his dad and lock himself in his room. But he knew his dad was going through a lot. And he really didn't want to disappoint him. "Ok. I will." He looked up, catching his father's attention. "I'm sorry about all this. I should have taken the box directly to him like you asked me to." Minato raised an eyebrow. "And no, that wasn't a confession. I still didn't do it."

The blond stood up and walked to his room, dragging his feet. He felt like shit. Even though he didn't do anything wrong, he could have avoided all this by just going to talk to the man the first time his dad asked him to. So then again, maybe he was to blame. Just a little.

He flopped down onto his bed and groaned into the pillow. He needed someone to talk to in order to get his mind off things.

Kiba wasn't an option. The guy would just freak out and make things worse. Other than him, all he had left was Sasuke. He hadn't talked to him since their first time chatting via web cam, which was a couple of days ago.

Now that he was thinking about it, he felt kind of bad that he left Sasuke like that. Especially since the guy seemed to really want a distraction. Oh well, he was a bastard half the time anyway.

The blond rolled off his bed with a thud and literally crawled over to his computer. After bringing up a new email and asking Sasuke to get on web cam, he rolled onto his back, staring at the textured ceiling. He remembered how when he was a kid, he would stare at the ceiling in his old home with his dad, trying to find weird shapes and faces hidden within the textured bumps. Kind of like cloud watching, but a bit more creative. To him anyway.

He was brought back from his thoughts when a loud 'bing' echoed through the room. **I'm on the phone.**

Naruto scrunched up his nose. Of course Sasuke was on the phone. The guy probably had an active social life, unlike him. **So hang up and talk to me. **

'_I really need to go out and make some more friends.' _

He sat up, using the wall as support, and turned on the TV. He might as well make it look as if he was doing something other than trying to find someone to vent to, so that he wouldn't look desperate if Sasuke did decide to hang up and talk to him. Flipping through the channels he finally settled on a crime show. The theme song of Criminal Minds soon filled the room. **You really think you're that important?**

Now was not the time for Sasuke's smart remarks. But he decided it was best to play along with it anyway. **Well, yeah. But only because I am. **

**Hn. **There it was, that magic word that meant he was getting what he wanted. Well, if you could even call it a word.

Soon enough, an invitation popped up on the screen, causing him to grin in achievement. As soon as he clicked 'accept' he began blabbering, not giving Sasuke a chance to interrupt. "Oh Sasu I'm sorry about last time. I didn't mean to leave you like that especially since you really wanted to talk to me, but you see I-"He stopped abruptly at the sound of someone banging against a wall or door along with some distant yelling. Squinting his eyes and leaning in towards the screen, he furrowed his brows, realizing the person on the screen wasn't Sasuke.

The stranger leaned in, following suit.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face.

Before the stranger had a chance to answer, the door came flying open revealing a very angry Sasuke. The stranger didn't look amused in the least.

Sasuke clenched his teeth and practically snarled before running like a madman toward the stranger. "Itachi!" He yelled and leaped through the air, tackling the stranger towards the ground and jerking the computer down with them.

Naruto stared wide eyed at the chaos before him until the screen went completely black. Who was Itachi and why was Sasuke acting like that? It was kind of weird seeing Sasuke show that much emotion all at once. All the times Naruto had spoken to him, he barely showed any hint of feeling. Granted, he'd only spoken to him about three or four times. And only one of those was face to face. Well, as face to face as they were gonna get, anyway.

The blond stood up, taking his laptop with him, and walked back over to his bed. **Eh… Sasuke? **

Yeah, he really did need to make some more friends. Talking to someone about his problems shouldn't be this difficult.

Another invitation popped onto the screen. Naruto stared at it for awhile, wondering whether or not it was safe to answer this time. Reluctantly, he clicked 'accept' and continued staring at the screen. He didn't want what happened last time to happen again, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry about that."

The blond stared at Sasuke, still not saying a word.

The raven was picking up all the things that had fallen from his desk during the fight, and putting them back in their respective places. Noticing the blond hadn't said anything yet, he stopped and looked at the screen. "That was my brother, Itachi. He saw me talking to you and wanted to know who you were… I didn't tell him so he locked me out and sent you an invite. He doesn't know how to mind his own business. "

Still no response.

"And don't call me Sasu."

Noticing the grin creeping onto the blonds face, he inwardly sighed in relief. He wasn't sure why he was putting forth so much effort to get Naruto to talk. It was so unlike him. But there was something about the blond that he liked. No, 'liked' was too strong of a word. More like, tolerated.

There weren't many people outside of his family that he put up with. And he wasn't one to socialize often. But ever since he left that one comment on Naruto's page, the guy hadn't left him alone, giving him no choice other than to talk to him.

At first, he really didn't want to talk to the guy. He just wanted one simple answer. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the guy was the type to force you into being his friend. And no, they weren't friends. Naruto was more like his acquaintance that he barely tolerated.

"Hey Sasuke?"

"Yeah?" He looked away and continued picking up the mess he'd made.

"Are we friends?"

Damn. Just as Sasuke had come to terms with their 'acquaintance' status, the blond had to go and ask a question like that. Why'd he have to ruin such a great thing they had going on? Well, it was time to break all ties.

"I mean, I really need someone to talk to… So…"

The brunet stared into his eyes, trying to figure out what to say. It was hard to think, seeing those blue eyes stare back at him. They were filled with what looked like sadness. He'd never seen the boy so upset before. It was odd.

It was also strange how fast his demeanor changed from earlier.

"Uh… Sure, I guess so."

Naruto smiled and continued. "So you'll listen?"

"Hn."

"Alright, so. I really messed up Sasuke. You remember what I told you I did with my neighbor's stuff, last time? Well, he called my dad and told him I smashed it! Like… Broke the thing and left it on his doorstep! Why the hell would I do that?"

"Well, you're not the brightest."

"Shut up!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, glad that Naruto was back to his old self. It was probably all an act to get him to listen anyway. The blond might not be the smartest, but he knew how to work people; charm them.

"I wouldn't and I didn't! But that's not the thing. My dad's really stressed out about it. He says he doesn't care anymore. And on top of that, I've been trying to ask him about my mom and the accident lately, ever since you brought it up, but he always finds a way to ignore me! Like he's hiding something..."

"You're probably just annoying him."

"No way, that couldn't be it!"

Sasuke snorted and shook his head. "Of course not."

"You're really no help at all."

The raven barely refrained from rolling his eyes. His '_friend' _overthought everything. One day he's going on about how his neighbor's a serial killer then the next he's saying his dad hates him. Talk about taking things out of proportion.

He wasn't the type of person people came to for help. So this just wouldn't do. He was willing to listen, but give advice? Not a chance.

He took the silence as a chance to continue with his cleaning.

Naruto watched Sasuke as he leaned over, picking up random items. He seemed to have fixed the resolution on his camera since last time they chatted. His pale skin didn't cause such a bright glow on the screen anymore. It looked as if the boy really was right in front of him. As he leaned over the desk to put away some papers, his bangs fell over one of his eyes.

The blond was entranced by how amazing he looked. Anyone else would look like crap with such pale skin, but not Sasuke. Without knowing it, his right hand slowly etched towards the screen, wanting nothing more than to move the boys bangs from his face. It was like his hand now had a mind of its own.

_Clink._

Nope, still can't magically go through computer screens, no matter how much you want to.

Sasuke looked up when hearing the sound, just to see Naruto with his hand on the screen, staring at it in confusion. "What are you doing, moron?"

The blond was instantly brought out of his trance by the sound of his voice. What _was_ he doing? He really didn't know. "You're pretty. You know that?"

Sasuke didn't look up or react in any way. Though they hadn't talked all that much, he was very much used to the fact that the boy before him was unpredictable and, for lack of a better word_, weird._ "Hn."

"Anyway." Naruto shook his head, trying to get a hold of his thoughts. He wasn't gay, but Sasuke really was a nice looking guy. He didn't mean to say it out loud though, it just sort of slipped. That sort of thing happened to him when he was under a lot of stress. He'd say things that he normally wouldn't say out loud. Which was sort of a big deal, since he rarely ever censored himself in the first place.

Coming up with a change of subject, he added "I got you good last time, huh?" A smirk slowly crept its way onto his face.

"Hardly." The raven relaxed, noticing the other was a lot less tense than before.

"Oh come on, I could see it in your eyes!"

"You're an idiot."

"Don't be mad, Sasu. I won't tell anyone." Naruto grinned, placing his hands behind his head. "So… Itachi? You never told me you had a brother!"

"I was unaware telling you my life story was a requirement."

"Stop being such a bastard, Sasuke."

No answer.

Naruto huffed. '_Here we go again. Gotta force him into talking.' _"Why are you always online? I mean, you are every time I log on, anyway. Shouldn't you be out with friends? Doing teenage stuff?"

The brunet showed no emotion whatsoever. "I don't like people. And those teenage things you speak of, I'd rather not get involved with."

"You talk to me though. So you must like me a lot! Aw, Sasuke. How sweet."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, idiot. You don't really give me a choice."

"Oh? You could just ignore me."

"Then you'd spam my inbox."

Well, that was true, but still. "You could always block me, you know."

Valid point.

Sasuke scrunched his face up in disgust. Yeah, he knew he could block the guy. He contemplated on it once before. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to. "Whatever." And with that, the screen went black.

"What a killjoy." Naruto murmured as Sasuke ended the session. Any other time, he would do as the raven said and spam his inbox until he got back on. But this time he knew he had other things he needed to attend to.

He glanced at the clock, somewhat shocked at how much time had passed. If he didn't get moving soon, he wouldn't make it to his neighbor's at a decent hour, giving the man another reason to complain. He had planned on visiting Gramps before the day was over, but it was too late for that now. He'd visited him every day this week so far anyway. So one day's absence wouldn't hurt.

After taking a quick shower and throwing on a pair of orange sweatpants and a t-shirt, he ran downstairs. He didn't care how casual he looked; he surely wasn't trying to impress the guy. The man should be glad he at least had the courtesy to take a shower instead of stinking up his house, anyway.

He quickly scarfed down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before waving goodbye to his father, who reminded him to behave and mind his manners while gone.

As he walked along the path to his neighbor's, he didn't dare to step on the man's grass, and contemplated on what he should say. A casual "Hi" didn't seem very appropriate and he sure as hell wasn't going to start off by saying "I'm sorry about your belongings."

Once at the door, he decided he would just wing it. Besides, he didn't have the time or energy to think about it anymore than he already had. The guy wasn't worth his time. The only reason he was doing this anyway was to make his dad happy. Ringing the doorbell, he waited, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

He heard shuffling inside the house and a few hushed murmurs before the door slowly crept open, giving Naruto his first good look at his ever so mysterious neighbor.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: <strong>I know… I'm a horrible person for stopping here. Forgive me? ;-;  
>I tried to show a little bit of Sasuke's thoughts in this chapter, since a few people requested it. I hope that's what you meant, anyway!<br>Oh, and Gramps is the shoe shine man… If you hadn't realized.

Hope you all have a nice Valentine's Day(:


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
><strong>Warnings for this chapter:<strong> Language. The usual.

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><p>Naruto looked all around the room; from the dusty knickknacks and ceiling fan to the distasteful paint covering the walls. The place looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in ages. Albeit, it wasn't messy at all; everything seemed to be neat and in place. But it looked like nothing had been moved or touched since the last time someone moved in. Dust caked absolutely everything.<p>

Besides the major overtake of nasty dust particles gracing everything in sight; the place looked downright gloomy. All the curtains were closed and only one small lamp was lit, giving off a very limited amount of light. The walls were a dark, almost beige color, and the rug beneath his feet matched, with gold edges.

Naruto tapped his feet together, still glancing from one spot of the room to another; his bottom lip poked out in concentration.

"Naruto, is it?"

He focused on the man standing before him, observing his features. He was very pale, much more so than Sasuke. His hair was pretty long for a man and… Was he wearing an eye patch? Naruto leaned forward a little, trying to get a better look. It was pretty dark in the room, causing shadows to hide most of the man's facial features. The man was, indeed, wearing an eye patch over his right eye; an orange eye patch to be exact. If that wasn't weird enough, he sported a strange looking red contact in his only visible eye.

The blond shook his head in agreement but said nothing.

"Sit down. I'll make some tea."

Naruto sat down in the chair closest to him. "I'm not thirsty. Can we hurry this along?"

"Antsy now, are we?" He continued walking to the kitchen, ignoring Naruto's request.

"Who are you?"

"Madara." He walked out with two small cups of hot tea and sat down, handing one of the glasses to Naruto. "Now, why is it you keep destroying my things?"

Naruto grinded his teeth in frustration, trying his hardest to keep himself composed. "I didn't do anything, and you know it."

"Oh?" He started, taking a sip of his tea. "I beg to differ." He sat his cup down on a small end table and leaned back in his seat. "I vaguely remember a boy with bright blonde hair wearing a black and orange leather jacket stomping on my mail just the other day." He gestured his hand towards the blonds' hair and continued. "Not to mention the very same boy wearing the same jacket, trashing my lawn just last week. Now if I'm correct, you're the only boy in this neighborhood that fits that description. Am I wrong?"

"You didn't see a damn thing. And if you had seen something like that; why didn't you run outside and stop it?" There; he had him cornered.

"I'm ill; if you couldn't tell from my complexion. I can't very well go outside, chasing people away from my house, now could I?"

This guy had an answer for everything.

"Whatever." Naruto refused to believe the guy was sick. He was obviously a hermit so of course his skin was pale! And besides, he was lying about seeing Naruto trash his things, so why wouldn't he be lying about everything else too?

"Hmm." Picking up his glass he leaned forward, invading Naruto's personal space. "You're not getting away with this. I will be reimbursed for all the damage you've caused. And paying me cash isn't an option. I refuse to take your father's money or your own. I want you to work for me, nothing big… Just a little yard work and house work here and there. I'm sure your father will agree with such a meager punishment, yes?"

Naruto gaped at him in astonishment. So that's what this was all about? He wanted someone to do his chores for him so he set up this crazy scheme. Remembering the earlier conversation with his dad, he decided it was best to play along and answered. "Sure." A little work wouldn't kill him; even if he shouldn't have to do it in the first place.

"Very well. I'll call your father sometime tomorrow and set up some sort of agreement on the matter."

Naruto stood up abruptly. "So we're done here?"

"It seems so. For now, anyway." He picked up the cup of tea Naruto neglected to use and stood up before leading him to the front door. "I'll be seeing you soon, Naruto."

The blond practically ran out of the house. Madara, or whatever his name was- Naruto didn't really pay attention when he told him his name- was one creepy guy. He didn't want to be around him one more second. He was a little surprised by how quick the conversation went, but he sure as hell wasn't going to complain about it.

He quickly ran upstairs and into his room, wanting more than anything to tell someone what happened. Where was Kiba when you needed him? The guy hadn't come by in a couple of days. Naruto figured he'd be over every day after their first encounter with each other. Yeah the guy was a little on the crazy side, but at least he would listen and agree with all of Naruto's theories on the matter.

Settling on the only other available person, he opened his laptop and sent a web cam invitation.

When no one accepted, he pulled up another tab and promptly went to Sasuke's profile. _'Offline? Shit. Just my luck!_'

Not willing to give up, he clicked back to the first tab and set his laptop on his desk, still open. He then turned out the lights and nestled into his bed. He'd simply have to lay there and wait until the Uchiha decided to log on.

No longer than ten minutes later, he was fast asleep.

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><p>Naruto wiped the gunk from the corners of his eyes and blinked a few times, attempting to get his sight back. Rolling to his side, he slid one of his feet from under the covers and quickly retreated it to the safe haven that was his bed. "Too cold." He moaned and rolled over in hopes to fall back asleep when he heard an almost inaudible grunt.<p>

Opening one eye, he turned over and noticed his laptop was lit up with the pale face of a dark haired boy. He mutely wondered what was going on until he remembered last night's affair.

Quickly jumping to his feet he yelled Sasuke's name and began to make a motion to run but failed miserably. His legs tangled in his sheets causing him to tumble to the floor. Hastily regaining his composure, he stood up and carefully made his way to his desk.

"Hey! You're that guy from before! Itachi?" Naruto gave him a look as if to say he wasn't pleased with his presence.

Itachi raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"How long have you been watching me?" He asked, realizing Itachi was on before he'd woken up.

A smirk gradually appeared upon his face.

The blond was quickly becoming peeved with the boy's lack of response. "Are you some kind of creep or something?" As the words left his mouth, a head popped up in the background. Naruto smiled when noticing it was Sasuke.

Itachi peeked over his shoulder to see what Naruto was smiling about and briskly left the room.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, not caring that Itachi had left without answering him.

Sasuke stood from his bed and walked over to the computer, not realizing that his brother had been in his room at all. He rubbed his eyes and glared. "What the hell are you doing this early?"

"Never mind that." He answered, not really wanting to explain the situation with Itachi. "Guess what happened last night?"

The raven laid his head on his desk and sighed. "You finally talked to your neighbor last night. He tried to kill you with… I don't know? A flyswatter? And now you're absolutely _positive_ you were right about your earlier presumptions. Am I right?" He lifted his head back up and smirked at Naruto's scowl.

"You're not funny, Sasuke."

"Whatever. Are you gonna tell me or what?"

"You were spot on." He lied; no longer feeling like telling his story.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just tell me, moron. You don't have to be such a baby about it."

"I'm not acting like a baby!" He snapped.

"Mhmm. Whatever." He stood up and grabbed some clothes from his closet before walking back to the computer. While typing he continued, "My mom's taking my laptop with her for a few days. So if you want to talk, just text me. Because God knows if I don't give you my number, you'll track me down and end up on my doorstep." He hit enter, allowing his number to appear on Naruto's screen, before he ended the session and turned off his computer.

"I don't have a cell phone!" The blond yelled as if Sasuke could hear him.

Sighing, he shut down his computer and chose to take a quick shower.

After drying off he wrapped the towel around his waist and snatched up his toothbrush, squirting a pea sized amount of mint toothpaste on the bristles, and shoving it into his mouth. He then went to his room and began rooting through his dresser, looking for a pair of pants. He was so concentrated on his task that he failed to detect two people sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

A loud gasp caused him to jump and turn around, clasping the knot holding his towel together. Before him were Kiba and a dark haired girl; who was now hiding her face behind Kiba's arm. "I t-told you we should have w-waited outside." She mumbled, her face turning tomato red.

"Kiba?" Naruto asked, his eyes widened as he pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth.

"Hey, man. Your dad let us in." He started; not phased in the slightest by Naruto's appearance. "This is Hinata; a friend of mine." He moved his arm so Naruto could get a better look at the girl. "She's usually not around during the summer time but her parents decided not to take a vacation this year. So I've been hanging out with her lately… Figured you two would get along great!"

"Oh. Hi Hinata!" Naruto smiled, practically forgetting he was clad in only a towel.

She immediately covered her face with her hands and whispered a hello.

"Eh?" Naruto looked down realizing what was probably causing the awkwardness and excused himself from the room, where he quickly threw on a pair of pants and a plain white t-shirt. He walked back into his room while tugging an orange hoodie over his head. "So what are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"Hana asked me to pick her up some milk from the market. And uh… My parents keep my car during the summer. Something about how I'd probably kill someone. So I was wondering if you could drive us."

"I guess so. I don't have any plans for today anyway." Naruto pulled his desk chair out and sat down. "You guys can meet Gramps too!"

"Why would I wanna meet some old guy?"

The blond scowled in Kiba's direction, thinking up something clever to say when Hinata spoke up. "I would like to meet him, N-Naruto."

"Then it's settled!" He jumped up and grabbed Hinata's arm before running out the door. She held in a small scream but didn't resist, though, if it were possible, she turned an even darker shade of red.

Kiba ran frantically behind them. "Hey! What about me?"

"You didn't wanna meet Gramps!"

"But I still need milk! Come on, man!"

Naruto started up the car and drove off, fast enough that Kiba couldn't catch them, but slow enough that he wouldn't give up. After a few blocks he stopped completely, allowing Kiba to make it up to the door before he hit the gas once again.

Kiba threw his arms in the air in defeat and sat in the middle of the road.

"W-We should stop and let him in. I t-think he's tired."

Naruto considered Hinata's suggestion for a second then came to a complete stop at the end of the road. He turned around in his seat to get a good look at Kiba and smiled at his friend's appearance. Kiba looked like a small child having a temper tantrum; sitting crossed legged, arms crossed, and lips poked out in irritation. He opened the door to his car and got out. "Kiba! Come on."

"No!" Kiba yelled and turned his head away.

"Oh come on, Kiba. I was just messin' with you." He started walking down the street towards the other boy, trying to get a response.

"I'm staying right here."

Naruto continued walking and kicked a small clump of gravel in his direction.

The brunet winced as if the small rock had really hurt him. "What was that for?" He glowered up at Naruto who was now standing directly in front of him.

Naruto bent down and grabbed Kiba's hands like he would do to someone he was intimate with and stared deep into his eyes. "I'm sorry, I really am. I made a huge mistake. Can you ever forgive me?" He pouted.

Kiba looked up at him like he was insane but quickly caught on. He smirked and stood up, his hands still linked with Naruto's. "I guess I'll forgive you this time. But don't let it ever happen again, okay?"

"I won't. I promise." Naruto laughed and let go of his hands. He figured if he dramatized it a bit, Kiba would go along with it. "Now let's get going."

The ride to the market was chaotic, to say the least. The entire time Kiba seemed to be having a one-sided battle with the radio to see which one could sing the loudest. The louder Naruto turned the radio up, in order to drown out Kiba's voice, the louder he sang. Hinata sat in the front passenger's seat, trying to block out all the noise. Naruto noticed how quiet she was being and kept poking her as if that would make her speak up. All it really did was cause her to turn a deep scarlet color. The blond silently wondered why she seemed so shy around him.

As they walked up to the entrance of the store, Kiba quickly went inside while Naruto and Hinata made their way to Jiraiya.

Before the man had a chance to speak, the blond proceeded to blurt out all his problems from the past week. When he finished, he noticed Jiraiya eyeing Hinata quizzically and realized how rude he'd been. "Oh yeah, this is Hinata."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend? I just met her an hour ago."

Hinata sat on the bench, trying her hardest to keep her composure. She was shy around almost everyone, but after seeing Naruto in only a towel, it was ten times worse around him. "N-Nice to meet you." She twirled her thumbs but didn't look up as she spoke.

"Back to my dilemma." Naruto interrupted; wanting to know Jiraiya's take on the matter.

Jiraiya contemplated the blond's story and crossed his arms. "It's a typical case of good versus evil. You're good. Good always loses because good has to fight fair and evil doesn't. But in this situation, you might be an exception."

Naruto gaped at him, confused. "Eh? What?"

"Just think about it, brat."

"Alright, I'm ready!" Kiba waved and started walking to Naruto's car. "Hi Gramps! Bye Gramps!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and peered down at Naruto. "Gramps?"

"Heh… That's Kiba for you…" He lifted his hand to the back of his head and continued. "I guess we better go."

After saying their goodbyes, they retreated to the car and began their journey back home. Before starting up the car, Naruto made sure to give Kiba a pair of headphones in hopes that he would stay quiet.

The car ride home was remotely quiet and surprisingly peaceful until Hinata finally spoke up. "Have you m-made any friends besides K-Kiba yet, Naruto?"

The blond smiled and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Well yeah, kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Yeah… We talk online. Like on a web cam and stuff. But I haven't met him… Yet."

"Oh, I understand. What's his n-name?" Hinata didn't want to pry, but she also didn't want Naruto to think she was some weird girl that never spoke. And it felt sort of rude just sitting in his car and not trying to make conversation.

"Sasuke… Uh… Uchima.. No, Uchiha!"

Hinata's head shot in the blonds direction immediately. "Sasuke Uchiha? I k-know him."

"Really?" Naruto piped up in his seat, eager to hear more.

The dark haired girl smiled in accomplishment. "Yes. Well, n-not personally. He was in one of my classes a year or t-two ago. He didn't talk t-to many people."

"Hah! Figures. He's too much of a bastard to talk to anyone." Noticing Hinata's confused look he finished. "In the best way possible, I mean." He turn onto their road and slowed down. "Do you know where he lives?"

He could tell she was contemplating on whether or not to give up such personal information so he prodded a little further. "He gave me his phone number but I don't have a cell, so I need a way to go see him." It was only a white lie. He didn't _need_ to see Sasuke, but he really wanted to. He gave her his biggest smile in hopes that she'd tell him what he wanted to know.

After thinking it over for awhile she grabbed a pen lying between the seats and grabbed his hand, a little surprised by how confident she was acting. She scribbled the address on his palm and opened the car door.

Naruto grinned and did the same. He tapped on the backseat window to signal to Kiba that they were home and thanked Hinata. As he started to walk down the street Kiba yelled after him. "Where are you going?"

"To a friend's!" He shouted back and began sprinting towards his destination.

A few twist a turns later, he was on Sasuke's street. He was extremely surprised at how close together they lived. Who would have thought that all this time, they could have just went and seen each other in person. Not that Sasuke would probably ever agree to such a thing. Speaking of Sasuke; he wasn't sure how the brunet was going to act when seeing him standing in his doorway. It was a bit ironic how he'd just told the blond not to show up at his house, earlier this morning.

He walked up to the doorstep, noticing there weren't in cars in the driveway. He hoped Sasuke was home. What a waste it would be if he weren't. He rang the doorbell and shifted back and forth nervously.

He smiled his biggest smile when the door opened, revealing his favorite raven haired friend. He opened his mouth to speak only to have the door slammed in his face. "Sasuke? Sasuke! It's me, Naruto! Your best friend!" He stood on his tiptoes, trying to see in the small glass window at the top of the door. "Sasuke, let me in!"

"I told you not to stalk me and show up on my doorstep, idiot!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto heard another door slam and peeked through the window. He could no longer see the brunet.

Flustered, he backed away from the door and glanced over the house, looking for an alternative way to get inside. He noticed there was a drain pipe leading up to the gutters that passed right by a cracked window. Deciding to take his chances, he grabbed onto the pipe and started to shimmy his way upward.

Sasuke was going to let him in whether he wanted to or not.

As he reached his right hand upward to grab a spot with a little grip to it, a small spider fell onto his palm. He immediately began thrashing about and squealing, but kept his grip on the pipe nevertheless.

"What are you doing on my house?"

Naruto lost his grip and started sliding down at the thought of being caught. '_Oh no… His parents!' _He quickly tightened his grip on the pipe and panted, trying to catch his breath. Turning his head a little to the side, he realized it wasn't Sasuke's parents after all. It was Itachi.

"Nothing. Just trying to find a way to my best friend's room, is all."

"Best friend?"

"Yep. He's a jerk."

Itachi showed no emotion but agreed without hesitation. "Indeed."

The blond wasn't sure what else to say. He wanted Itachi to go away so he could continue his task. He was already half way there anyway.

"Now get down from there before one of the neighbor's report a robbery." Itachi turned around and began walking to the front door. When Naruto failed to follow, he asked, "Are you coming or what? I don't have all day."

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: <strong>I originally planned for Orochimaru to be the bad guy in this fic… I'd actually written this entire chapter up with him in it, but later decided that there were too many holes in my story if I chose him. So I picked Madara instead. Which works out great for future events.[x And besides, Orochimaru is overused.  
>Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It was the easiest chapter for me to write; only took me about two hours! It was pretty fun, too.<br>By the way, I haven't forgotten about YouTube and Naruto's singing. That'll pick up again later on.  
>And a big thank you to My Unique Pen Name who helped me with choosing Madara and fixing the chapter.<p>

Ps. I know he doesn't wear an eye patch. o.0 Js.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Naruto.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto followed Itachi into the house and stood by the door when he gestured for him to stay put. He watched as the brunet disappeared up the stairs, wondering what Itachi was going to do in order to get Sasuke to come down. Naruto wanted more than anything to run up the stairs and demand an apology from the raven for slamming the door in his face. But figured he sort of had it coming, since he did show up to Sasuke's house unannounced.<p>

He shot a glare at no one in particular when he heard Itachi's voice echoing from the hall. "Sasuke, your self-proclaimed best friend is here." He walked across the room, trying to hear the rest of the conversation, but had no luck. Itachi must have gone inside Sasuke's room and closed the door. _Great._

The blond turned around and scanned the room. Everything was nice and shiny; not a spot of dust was in sight. The carpet was a nice cream color along with the walls. There were sophisticated looking vases sitting on small stools on either side of a large painting, and a small bookcase on the far wall. It all looked like a picture from a catalog.

He wanted to sit down, but the couch was so white and perfect… It looked as if it had never been sat on before. Figuring he'd do better just sitting on a stool in the kitchen while he waited, he quickly turned around in one brisk movement.

"He asked for you to leave."

Naruto's eyes widened at the proximity between Itachi and himself. The guy was mere centimeters from him, but made no signs that he intended to move.

"Eh." He scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with a reason to go see Sasuke anyway. He didn't walk all the way up here to be turned down so easily. The guy talked to him online and gave him his phone number, so why not hang out with him? It made no sense to Naruto. Then again, not very many things did.

"I'm going to the coffee shop."

The blond's head shot up at Itachi's voice. He took the statement as his queue to leave and began walking towards the door, Itachi following quickly behind. He was already conjuring up a new plan to get into Sasuke's house. Itachi catching him was just a minor setback that he could easily recover from.

When he was looking around the house earlier, he noticed one of the windows were unlocked. Meaning, once Itachi was gone, he could come back and easily open it up and slide right into the living room. Sasuke might look at it as breaking an entry, but Naruto saw it as a wake-up call. The raven should know better than to leave the house unprotected. Who knew what kind of whack job could break in at any given moment?

He sniggered to himself as he continued to walk out of the house and down the driveway.

"Get in."

Naruto was abruptly brought back from his thoughts as his head snapped towards the vehicle creeping beside him. When he made no effort to move towards the passenger's seat, Itachi spoke up once again. "I said I'm going to the coffee shop. Get in."

The blond eyed him quizzically before shaking his head and getting into the car. "Way to invite someone along." Either this guy had no social skills, or he just didn't care. "Why do you want me to go anyway? I don't know you."

"I'm Itachi." He responded in a deadpan manner, while he turned off the main road and onto the highway.

"I know that."

"You said you didn't know me. If you don't want to end up looking like an idiot, don't make stupid remarks."

Naruto glared daggers at the brunet. "Being an ass… It's in your blood, isn't it? Yours and Sasuke's I mean. Hell, probably even your parents. Am I right?" He crossed his arms across his chest and stared accusingly.

Itachi tightened his grip on the steering wheel for a quick second causing Naruto to think he'd made a huge mistake. He should have known better than to open his mouth like that; especially when he didn't know much about Itachi yet. For all he knew, the guy really was just like Sasuke, and had no sense of humor whatsoever.

The raven slowly relaxed his grip on the wheel and turned to his right to check for oncoming traffic. Naruto was surprised to see that he had a small smile planted on his face. _'Hah! So the guy isn't a brick wall after all.'_

He looked out the window staring at the buildings as they passed by in a fast blur. Leaning forward towards the glass, his nose pressed upward, giving him the odd features of a pig. As people passed by and noticed his awkward position, they pointed and laughed. Whether they were laughing with him or at him; he didn't know. Then again, he didn't really care either way.

He continued to stare out the window like that until a small boy in the back of a large van waved his arms, trying to get his attention. Naruto watched as the boy smiled, then pressed his nose up against his own window and began to laugh. Finding the silly act adorable, the blond pressed his mouth against the glass and blew air, causing his cheeks to puff out and mouth to open wide onto the window. The boy laughed some more before the driver turned off the road, leaving Naruto to stare at the buildings once again.

"I hope you know after presenting such a childish display on my window, I expect you to wash my car."

Naruto jerked up at Itachi's words and smiled sheepishly. In the midst of his little game, he'd forgotten all about being in the car with Sasuke's older brother. To be honest, he wasn't sure why he agreed to go with him in the first place. He didn't want to hang out with Itachi; he wanted to talk to Sasuke. So what if Sasuke didn't want him around. He would grow on the guy eventually. He always did.

Even so, maybe if Itachi liked him, he would invite him over as his guest; giving him a chance to see Sasuke. The younger Uchiha couldn't complain about him being around if his own brother invited him, right? Then again, things were never that easy. Not for him anyway.

As they reached the coffee shop and came to a stop, Naruto dashed out of the car and through the entrance of the café. He quickly chose a table near the front, beside a large window with the shop's logo in the center. As he waited for Itachi to catch up, he checked his back pocket, looking for his wallet. When it wasn't there, he pulled out his right pocket, then his left. Panicking, he stood up and checked to see if he dropped it when he ran inside but it was nowhere to be found.

Itachi invited him to come along, so surely he was going to pay, right?

Sitting back down at the table, the blond forced himself to relax as the bell jingled: alerting the workers that someone had entered their shop. Itachi walked over and grabbed Naruto's arm forcing him to stand up, then walked him over to the counter.

"I'll have a cheese Danish and cup of coffee; black." Itachi ordered right off the bat without even looking at the menu. He looked down at Naruto and raised an eyebrow as he waited for the boy to order.

Figuring this meant that Itachi was going to pick up the tab, he glanced up at the menu, ordering the first thing he saw. "I'll have a cup of hot chocolate."

"One cheese Danish, a cup of black coffee, and hot chocolate coming right up! Take a seat and I'll bring it to you in no time." The girl behind the counter smiled and pulled out two cups, handing them to a worker in the back.

Naruto couldn't help but notice the way she was looking at Itachi. Though, she was none too discreet about it at all. Itachi probably noticed it also, he'd have to be blind not to. The girl was practically pushing her breasts together with her upper arms and shoving them over the counter.

The blond snickered as Itachi turned his head as if she were never there in the first place and retreated to their table. Following closely behind, Naruto sat across from him and began fiddling with his napkin. He wasn't sure what he was doing here or what he was supposed to say. Then again, what did it matter? He was a little surprised by how awkward he was acting. He never cared enough before to keep his mouth shut. Or to choose his words carefully. So why should he now?

Returning to his old self, he propped his face in his left hand and sighed. "So why'd you invite me?"

"Curiosity." Clearly Itachi wasn't one to engage in small talk.

Naruto unfolded his napkin and began rolling it up from one corner to the other, careful not to tear it. As he rolled it, he stopped halfway and pulled the edge out, then rolled it the rest of the way so it looked like a stick with a leaf sticking out the middle. Still not satisfied, he tightened the bottom half by twisting it from the bottom almost to the top, leaving an inch at the top, untouched. After fluffing up the top and pulling out the leaf-life piece in the middle, he waved it in the air and smiled gleefully.

Itachi silently studied the blond the entire time; watching every move he made and breath he took. He found it hard not to laugh at the faces the blond made while he was deep in concentration. "A rose?"

"Yep!" He smiled and tapped his leg under the table, thinking of something else he could do to pass the time.

"Here's your hot chocolate." The waitress placed the cup of hot liquid in front of Naruto, then turned to Itachi and smiled. "And here's your coffee!" She paused for a second and looked back towards the counter. "I hope you don't mind, but the oven's acting up. It'll be another five minutes before we get your Danish finished."

Itachi continued to examine the paper rose in Naruto's hand, ignoring the girl standing beside their table.

"Yeah, that's fine. He can wait." Naruto gave her his best smile as she stared down at him quizzically. "He's just not much of a talker, you know." He offered as he picked up his cup and blew across the top of it. As she walked back to the counter he sat down his cup and eyed Itachi. "What's your problem?"

"I feel I can ask the same." Itachi ran his index finger around the top of his mug, finally making eye contact with the blond.

"Eh? I'm not the one acting like I'm too good to speak to the waitress."

"Yet, you feel the need to make excuses for me. Someone you barely know?"

He couldn't deny it; Itachi had a valid point. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for her." When Itachi continued to stare at him without saying anything, he continued. "She obviously thinks you're good looking. She wanted you to acknowledge her."

"So what you're saying is: Every time a girl shows interest in me… I should go out of my way to make them feel special, while leading them on in the process?"

Naruto groaned as he banged his head against the table. "You're impossible!" He lifted his head up and glanced at the counter. The waitress was taking someone's order while keeping an eye on the oven. Two minutes were left on the timer, meaning Itachi would get his food soon and they could leave. He didn't mind being with Itachi, but he was exhausted. Not physically. He never had a problem doing physical activities. He could run laps from daybreak until sundown and still have enough energy to cook dinner, take a shower, and stay up all night playing video games. He was more mentally and emotionally stressed out than anything and it showed; no matter how hard he tried to hide it with a smile.

Itachi examined Naruto's behavior. He'd been watching the boy since he told him to come along; even when he didn't realize it. Traces of stress covered the blond's face. He wore a smile but Itachi could see it in his eyes.

He silently wondered why Naruto would try to hide it. Everyone knew it was better not to bottle things up. Of course, he didn't want the guy to spill his guts to him, but surely he could talk to one of his friends. Then again, that could have been the reason he was trying to sneak into Sasuke's room.

His thought's drifted off to his younger brother. Sasuke was the complete opposite of what Naruto seemed to be. He was stoic and didn't care how people felt or what anyone thought about him. Sasuke would never have made excuses for him in order to protect someone's feelings. If anything he would have ignored her as well.

Itachi had only one thing in mind: How the hell did these two become friends?

Sasuke would probably deny their friendship if he asked about it, but he knew better than that. If Sasuke didn't like Naruto, he would have just blocked him from the start and probably even called the police when he showed up on his doorstep. That's just how harsh Sasuke could be.

The raven absentmindedly smirked while picking up the paper rose, rolling the stem between his fingers. This could be a good thing for his little brother. Naruto's persistence could possibly help Sasuke to become more social and less of an ass. Yes, he would admit it; his brother was somewhat of a brat at times. Then again, he himself wasn't the biggest bundle of joy either... But at least he had friends. If you could call Deidara and Kisame friends, that is.

"Be careful, the plate's hot." Itachi was brought back from his thoughts as the waitress sat his food down on the table. He looked up at the girl then back down at his food. Why did waiters always say that? Of course the plate is hot. But it wasn't like he was going to touch it or move it. Why would he? She just laid it down before him. It wasn't like he was planning on grabbing the plate and taking it with him to the bathroom to eat. '_What idiots.'_

The girl faltered, hoping Itachi would say something before she walked away. "Oh, how cute! Is that for me?"

Itachi followed her gaze back to his hand. He inwardly groaned at her persistence as he tightened his grip on the rose. "No-"

Naruto reached over in an instance, cupping his hand over Itachi's mouth. "It's for you! I told him to give it to you but he was having second thoughts." He leaned closer to her, blocking Itachi's view of his face with his free hand as he whispered. "He's just embarrassed."

Itachi closed his eyes and sighed, removing the blond's hand from his face. "He's right; I was just embarrassed. Here." He handed her the rose and looked back down, urging her to leave.

Naruto's eyes widened at Itachi's gesture. Surely he heard him wrong.

The waitress giggled and placed a small piece of paper on the table before walking off.

"Well that was unexpected."

Itachi folded the paper in half and stuffed it in his back pocket. "Not in the least." He took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the seat.

Naruto shook his head, understanding what Itachi meant. "Not that she gave you her number. She probably would have done that anyway. I meant it was unexpected that you played along." He rested his face in his hand as he dipped his finger into his hot chocolate. "Don't tell me I changed you? Man, even I didn't realize how big of an effect I had on people." He stretched his arm out and examined his hand, flipping it from one side to the other.

Itachi sighed at Naruto's ignorance. "As if a five minute conversation would cause me to change my views and opinions. It's not-" No longer being able to ignore Naruto's strange actions he leaned forward, furrowing his brows. "What are you doing?"

"What smart guys do. You know, in the movies? When they make a valid point or do something really cool… They stick their lip out in concentration and stare at their hand as if they don't care what you think about it." He took one last look at his hand before turning back to Itachi. "Or maybe that's what the snobby rich kids do… Who knows?"

"…You really are an idiot."

Naruto was about to take offense and argue but settled down after noticing the smirk on Itachi's face. It wasn't a demeaning type of smirk like he would have expected. It was softer… More friendly-like. The blond leaned back and chuckled. "I guess you got me that time."

Itachi chewed the last of his Danish and wiped the crumbs from his lap as he stood up. "Well, it was nice meeting you Naruto."

"Uh?" Naruto sat his cup down and turned his body to face Itachi. "This feels kind of pointless doesn't it? I figured you'd interrogate me or something?"

"I wanted to know what you were like and I've seen enough to make my judgement. It would be a waste of my time to stay any longer."

The blond rolled his eyes and placed an elbow on the table. "And? Is it good or what?"

"I guess you could say that." Itachi crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "One more thing though. Don't come to my house anymore. Sasuke… He'll come to you."

"But he-"

"Trust me." Itachi interrupted, before walking out of the café.

Naruto groaned and slammed his head against the table, drawing the attention of all the customers. He didn't care. All his plans had just fallen through. Then again, Itachi just pretty much admitted that he approved of him; even if he didn't outright say it.

The blond's head shot up in an instant. Eyes wide, he ran towards the door yelling at the top of his lungs: "Itachi! You were my ride! Itachi wait!" He ran out the door and across the parking lot. Itachi was already driving through the exit and turning onto the main road. '_Great. Now I have to walk home.'_He sighed as he walked back to the front of the café and sat down on the sidewalk.

"Sir. You need to pay the bill before you can come out here."

Naruto turned his head to see the waitress from earlier standing outside the door with her hands on her hips. "Oh, sure." He whispered. "I'll be there in a sec." He stood up and reached into his back pocket when realization finally hit him. "Itachi!" He spun around towards the direction the raven drove off and glared. "Fuck. What am I gonna do now!" He hissed and walked back into the café, sitting in the same booth he sat in when he first came.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for coming to get me yesterday dad." Naruto stared out the window as they pulled into the store parking lot and picked a spot close to the entrance. As they came to a stop he turned towards his father and watched as the man turned off the car and scanned through the papers in the middle compartments between the seats for his grocery list. "And for paying the tab…"<p>

"It's fine." Minato glanced up at his son then continued digging through the papers and old receipts stuck between the seats. "I just don't understand why you went somewhere without your car and wallet." He gave his son a quizzical look as he found the grocery list he was looking for and crammed the rest of the trash back into the compartment. "On a side note: Stop leaving your trash in here. It wouldn't kill you to bring it inside and throw it away after you use my car, Naruto."

"I know, I know." Naruto grinned at his father's last comment and helped pick up a few balls of paper. It was a habit of Naruto's; to throw all his trash between the seats of his father's car. Though, the blond never did that to his own car. "A friend took me there and I thought I had my wallet with me. You should have seen my face when I realized I didn't have it. My luck, huh?"

"I didn't know Kiba had a car."

"He doesn't." The blond refrained from picking up any more trash and leaned back in his seat, somewhat offended by the comment. "I have more than one friend, you know."

"I'm not saying you don't." Minato stopped what he was doing and gave Naruto his full attention, knowing he just hit a nerve. "I've just never seen any of them besides Kiba. You should invite them over sometime."

"I don't think that would work out too well…"

"Oh?" The older blond stuffed the list into his wallet and continued. "You're ashamed of me then?" He teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course not, you know better than that. I just don't think that's going to happen for a while. Sasuke, my friend, he's… different. I guess you could say he doesn't like people. Yeah, you can definitely say that."

"He doesn't like anyone but he chooses to hang out with you of all people?" Minato laughed as Naruto gave him his best attempt at a glare. The younger blond tried to look angry but couldn't contain the chuckle slowly escaping his lips.

"Whatever." He unbuckled and stepped out of the car. "Hey! There's someone here I want you to meet."

When Minato gave him a look he explained further. "This really old guy that comes here every day. He kind of works here… sort of." He scratched the back of his head and looked up at his dad. "He's lonely. He tries not to show it, and I know he would never admit it, but I can see it in his eyes. So I come here a lot to talk to him and he gives me advice. You'll like him."

"He sounds really nice." Minato smiled and continued walking towards the store. When they made it to the entrance Naruto scanned the area in search for his old friend but Jiraiya was nowhere to be found. He walked over to the bench the man usually stood near and sat down. He was a little disappointed that Jiraiya wasn't there. He was there every day. He had to be in order to make enough money to get by. So where could he be? "I'll meet up with you in a sec." He told his dad as he leaned back against the concrete wall behind him.

When his dad left someone sat down on the bench beside him. Naruto scooted over to give the person some space and continued staring off into the parking lot before him.

"You're ignoring me now?"

Naruto perked up and spun around to meet the gaze of the person who'd just spoken to him. "What the heck where you hiding for?"

"Hiding? Why the hell would I hide?" Jiraiya placed his hands behind his head and linked them before closing his eyes and leaning back, enjoying the suns warmth bathing his face.

Naruto leaned back and did the same. "Nothing, never mind. Anyway, how have you been? I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Good. I'm doing good."

They both stayed there for awhile, enjoying the peace and quiet. Neither of them spoke or opened their eyes when someone walked by. They didn't care what people thought. All the regulars knew who they were anyway, nothing should surprise them.

Jiraiya opened his eyes and examined the boy beside him. He seemed so content and at peace. Finally deciding to speak up he opened his mouth. "I really am doing good Naruto." He waited for the boy to open his eyes before finishing his train of thought. "Ever since you came here that day and acknowledged my existence… Ever since the day you decided to help me; things have changed. It was slow at first, but things are different around here, for me."

"Wha-"

Jiraiya sent the blond a look as if to tell him not to interrupt until he was finished. "Before you came people looked at me as if I were scum. Like I was no better than the gum that stuck on the bottom of their shoes. No one wanted to give me work. No one would speak to me. And you know what? I didn't care. I was a bitter person. I didn't hate them, but I didn't like them either. I gave up my dignity and asked for handouts, not really expecting them, but I asked anyway. I was snide and rude, but so were they. I treated them the way they wanted to treated me; the way some of them already did." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs.

"Recently, people come here and give me work. The regulars let me shine their shoes every time they come and most of them don't ask for their change back anymore. But the best part Naruto… The best part is that they acknowledge me. They talk to me and I don't even have to initiate the conversation. The whole time I acted so bitter towards everyone; all I really wanted was someone to come by and say hello. Just one simple word. Just to show that they knew I was there. People now, they don't mind when I strike up conversation while I fix their shoes. They don't look at me like I'm disgusting anymore. Hell, the manager of the store even brings me a plate of food out from the deli every night when it's closing time! And you know what Naruto?"

The blond looked up, trying his hardest to fight back the tears swelling up in his eyes. He never knew people treated the old man like that and it made him furious. How could they?

"It's all because of you. You didn't care how dirty I am or how bad I smell. You didn't care that I'm not the richest man on the block. Do you see what I'm trying to say?" He wiped his hands on his pants and stood up. "It took one person to show that they cared. One person to act with their heart and not by what everyone else thought was acceptable. That one person opened other people's eyes. Then those people started showing that they cared, causing others to follow suit. It started a whole chain of generosity. It goes to show how big of an effect one person has on so many people. And that one person is you. I'm glad I met you, brat." Jiraiya smiled and couldn't contain his laughter at the sight of the blonds face. He looked as if he was on the brink of tears.

Naruto jumped up and was about to say something when he heard his father's voice. Turning towards the entrance, he saw his dad walking out with a cart full of groceries and piped up. "Hey, that's my dad! I told him about you and wanted you to meet him and-" He stopped when he turned around, realizing Jiraiya was gone yet again. _'What the heck?'_He looked around the parking lot in search for the man as he caught up with his dad.

"What happened to helping me shop?"

"Huh? Oh. I was talking to Gramps; the guy I told you about. I guess I forgot."

"Well you didn't come here for nothing. You're unloading the car when we get home. And I'll cook dinner." Noticing the saddened look on his son's face, he came up with a quick fix. "I'll even make your favorite. Ramen?"

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's get going!" Naruto grabbed the cart and ran to the car. He quickly opened the trunk and began throwing things in. Minato chuckled as he caught up and began placing bags into the car.

Unbeknownst to them both, the old man was standing near the end of the parking lot behind a pillar, smiling at the heartwarming scene before him.

After unloading the car and finishing up his chores, Naruto sat down to a nice dinner with his dad. Minato made sure to use all fresh items to cook his favorite dish with. They had both been through a lot of stress the past few weeks, and a nice quiet dinner was exactly what they both needed. They didn't talk much, but they liked it that way. Seeing as the last few times they had dinner, they ended up fighting about one thing or another.

Remembering that fact, Naruto stayed tense for the first half of his meal, hoping that the phone wouldn't ring and ruin the mood. For once in his life, he got lucky and nothing interrupted their meal. Minato made a few comments about his work and Naruto told a short story about one of Kiba's latest antics.

Once he was full, Naruto excused himself and ran up to his room. He had all intentions of grabbing his guitar and making a new video, but as soon as he logged on to his computer he was flooded with messages from a very angry Sasuke.

Naruto held his breath as he skimmed through the first few.

Why the hell did you come to my house, moron? I told you not to stalk me!

Okay. Why does my brother keep bringing you up? Did you say something to him before you left?

You hung out with my brother? Wtf idiot?

Hn. Nevermind. I'm wasting my figurative breath on you. Just don't message me back or I'll block you.

The blonds' eyes widened at the last message. He immediately logged onto his chat and looked for Sasuke's name. Before he had a chance to find it, an invitation popped onto the screen. He backed up and winced as he clicked accept, as if the screen were about to bite him.

"What the hell, Naruto?" Sasuke looked angrier than Naruto had ever seen him before. Even more so than the day he tackled his brother. His brows were furrowed and his eyes seemed much darker than he remembered them.

"I don't have a phone so I couldn't text you. And when I mentioned your name yesterday my friend knew where you live… She told me and it's close enough to my house that I can walk. So I did. I didn't think you'd go bat crazy because of it."

Sasuke relaxed a bit by the end of Naruto's explanation. So the guy wasn't trying to stalk him after all. He didn't completely believe him, but he came up with the excuse so fast that he did seem somewhat trustworthy. Besides, he'd already spent a whole day being mad at the guy. He was already pretty much cooled off. "Fine. But that doesn't explain why you were hanging out with my brother yesterday."

"Well it's not like I really wanted to." The blond ran his fingers through his hair, allowing himself to breathe again. "Just so you know." He rolled his eyes and leaned onto his desk.

"Hn."

"I love that little grunt of yours." Naruto smiled up at Sasuke only to get a glare in response.

"You're an idiot."

"Maybe so, but you love me." Ignoring the other glares he stood up, grabbed his guitar, and began playing a soft tune.

Sasuke turned his attention to a miniature Rubix Cube sitting on the edge of his desk. He tried to act as if he didn't care about what the other was doing, but couldn't help but take quick glances at Naruto from time to time. The blond was just so good at what he did.

He sat there for a while, twisting the cube one way to another while listening to the faint sound of music coming from the other end of the computer. He didn't want Naruto to stop playing and ruin the peacefulness they just established.

Sasuke wasn't sure why he put up with the blond boy on his computer screen, but then again, he tried not to think about it too much. Because he knew that if he did, it would all end. Just like with everyone else that tried to wedge their way into his life.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: <strong>This is my longest chapter yet! I was looking back at all my other chapters and was a little put off when I noticed how short they were. It was causing me to get nowhere fast. So I tried to make this one a little longer in order to speed things along.  
>Thanks to my beta Kaizen Kitty!<p>

By the way, don't hate me! D: I know you were all expecting Naruto and Sasuke to hang out in this chapter. I'm just a horrible person, right? Well, at this point in the story, it could go either way, really. I could have them meet or I could keep up the video chat for awhile longer?


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